Sunday, 20 May 2012

Nasi Uduk and Nasi Kuning - The Aunt's Kitchen

I may sound a little biased, but I do think that Indo's food is the best cuisine for me so far. And I doubt it very much that it'll change.

It is concerning for me that there are so many famous Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese restaurants in Sydney, especially in Sydney CBD, but there are very few Indo restaurants that are as popular as those ramen bars. I mean, I really love Thai, Viet and Japanese cuisines but I really long for Indo food to make its breakthrough to world's culinary sphere.

So here I am talking about nasi uduk. Nasi uduk is a Betawi-originated dish, consisting of rice steamed with coconut milk and some various side dishes. This dish is pretty popular in Indo, and you may have notice that Malaysia got a similar dish too called nasi lemak. They're pretty much the same, I reckon it's the side dishes that make a little difference.

You can find nasi uduk very easily in Jakarta, many of street vendors sell them but there are also few restaurants that include the traditional dish in their menu lists. I have few fav nasi uduk in Jakarta, and all of them are sold at street vendors. However, the aunt has once again proved her skills. She makes a killer nasi uduk. She usually makes this only when an order comes, or if she wants to sell them in the church on Sundays. Of course, I lend a hand.

Her nasi uduk is fragrant due to the arrays of spices, and you can actually taste the subtle creaminess from the coconut milk.

Nasi uduk

The fixings are complicated because there are so many options to decide, but ayam goreng kuning (spiced fried chicken) has to be one of them.

Ayam goreng kuning (spiced fried chicken)

This one is a favourite of mine. The telur balado (spicy fried-boiled eggs) are basically triple cooked: boiled, fried (so that the eggs have the thin crispy layer outside), and stir fried with the spicy sauce. The spicy sauce itself isn't spicy enough for me, yet contain great flavour which makes it very moreish.

Telur balado (spicy fried-boiled eggs)

Sambal goreng kentang (spicy stir fried potato, beef and green beans) seems simple, the key is to get the perfect sambal. In this case, the aunt's sambal is always a winner, so it's hard to stop at one mouthful of this.

Sambal goreng kentang (spicy stir fried potato, beef and green beans)

Assembling is an easy part. Just make sure that every box has the same amount of rice, and the fixings can follow. The real challenge of it id how not to nibble on the sambal goreng kentang while putting them on the boxes. And I love the sight of fried shallots on my rice, do you?

Arranging the fixings in take away containers

Here's what you'll get if you order the aunt's nasi uduk. Complete with slices of fresh cucumber. Perfect homemade lunch.

Complete set of nasi uduk

The record so far is an order of 105 boxes of nasi uduk. Yes they were crazy days.

Final product

Nasi kuning is a sibling of nasi uduk, if you may. The cooking process also involves coconut milk, but this one also includes turmeric to get the bright yellow natural colour. It is usually served as tumpeng, the conical-shaped rice, surrounded by various tasty side dishes which is generally served in celebrations.

The side dishes can be the same as the ones for nasi uduk, but the aunt tends to make different ones. Isn't she amazing.

The last time she cooked nasi kuning, it was surrounded by:

Kacang teri manis (sweet fried anchovy, tempe, and peanuts) - the fried anchovies, tempe and peanuts are bind together by caramelized brown sugar, like toffee. This one's a crunchy treat, very addictive.

Rendang (slow cooked beef) - I bet most of you must've known this one. The beef are braised in rich, creamy and full of spices sauce/gravy, resulting in incredibly tender meat and great depth of flavour.

Does your aunt run a catering business in Sydney? That's brilliant! There's a big Indonesian community there who surely miss Indon food and they can conveniently get it in nicely packed lunch boxes! =)

Search This Blog

Hello

Obsessed to food, hoping to share my culinary adventure.
"Irene's Getting Fat!" is a Jakarta - Sydney food blog, and actually a portfolio, it is mostly about food, but also includes travel logs and lifestyle. Visit the 'About' page for more info!

Disclaimer

The reviews posted on 'Irene's Getting Fat!' are personal opinions, and Irene does not receive or solicit any payment for restaurant reviews. The images and texts credit belongs to Irene, unless otherwise noted. If you wish to use any images or texts in this blog, please contact me at irenechristiana[at]yahoo[dot]com[dot]au, or simply link back to this blog.